Lin ups his game in Rockets victory

Taiwanese-American NBA player Jeremy Lin was apparently feeling more comfortable as he made his debut at the Houston Rockets' home stadium Friday night, leading his team to a landslide victory over the New Orleans Hornets 95-75 in a preseason game.

In his second appearance in a Rockets jersey, Lin was on court for 23 minutes, finishing with nine points on 2-of-6 shooting, seven assists and two steals, ending the Hornets' three-game-winning streak in the preseason matchups while handing his team a two-game winning streak.

This is a significant improvement for Lin, who finished with only three points on 1-of-3 shooting in less than 20 minutes of action on the Rockets' Wednesday triumph over the Oklahoma City Thunder.

The 24-year-old player who played with the New York Knicks last season is still adjusting to his new team and getting his legs underneath him after offseason knee surgery.

The Harvard-graduate point guard put the Rockets up 15 at 64-49 with two free throws with 4:32 left in the third after being fouled hard by New Orleans center Robin Lopez during a drive to the basket.

The foul was initially ruled flagrant but was reverted to a regular foul after officials reviewed the play. Lin was subbed out of the game shortly afterward. No damage was done.

After the game Lin dismissed the play as no big deal, saying such encounter can actually be beneficial.

"It actually didn't hurt that bad or anything," he said when asked about the incident after the game. "He just didn't want me to shoot a layup so he took me down."

"Once you get that first one, it's like the first of everything. Once I get (hit) one time, once I get in the air and get chucked a little bit and come down, everything will relax for me mentally, so it was good for me and I'm glad I got a couple free throws — that wasn't terrible," he noted.